Isolation
by Catherine Pugh
Summary: Russians have aimed missiles at the United States and China, insuring imminent nuclear holocaust. The apparent sole survivors of WW3 adjust to changes in societal expectations, while life continues as normal on the island. Something big, however, is about to change life on the island forever.
1. Chapter 1

_**1969. **_

_**Diary of Roy S. Hinkley, Ph.D**_

_**I am writing in the dim candle light of my hut. It is very late. The others have all gone to bed.**_

_**I suppose if anyone miraculously survived and finds our remains in a future archaeological expedition, you will want to know our reactions to the news. I'm not even sure why I'm writing; perhaps it is to keep sane in our situation. Here are the events that occurred several weeks ago. I don't even know the date anymore, but time is irrelevant now.**_

_**As luck would have it, the day we found a large, functional airplane in an abandoned WW2 hangar in the jungle, the radio announced that Russia was threatening to start the next World War with a push of a button.**_

_**We had all been so elated when Gilligan accidentally found the hangar in the woods while looking for Gladys. He really had to give her credit where credit was due. **_

_**I had some flying experience as a pilot when I was in the Reserves, but I had never flown a craft quite like the one they uncovered. To my glee, the hangar still had fuel.**_

_**Initially the plan was to jump in the plane and fly home, but Gilligan had on the radio, and the breaking announcement shocked everyone. **_

_**I gathered what batteries we had generated and directed the others to move to the cave. We clustered around the radio in the large cave near the fresh, underground water supply, listening to the radio in shock and dismay. The news was dire. You could hear air raid sirens in the background; the reporter was trying his best to remain calm. I will never forget the broadcast.**_

_**BREAKING NEWS. RUSSIAN MISSILES AIMED CHINA AND AT TEN MAJOR CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. PRESIDENT NIXON HAS ISSUED A STATE OF EMERGENCY. I REPEAT. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. NUCLEAR WAR IS IMMINENT. THE UNITED STATES IS UNDER ATTACK. I REPEAT, UNDER ATTACK. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. **_

_**I remembered the first weeks we were marooned on the island, weathering a particularly wretched typhoon. Mary Ann and I clung to each other, in fear that the walls of our communal hut would fall down in the wind, but we miraculously survived. I wish I could say the same for the rest of civilization.**_

_**The Cuban Missile Crisis was a day I'll never forget. It was in mid-October, and I remember my students panicking at the news. I remember the fear in their eyes, the feigned flippancy of some, and the gnawing sensation in my gut, wondering when Khrushchev was going to hit the button and blow all of us ants into smithereens. I felt that triplefold when the radio announcer betrayed his emotions.**_

_**The Skipper took off his hat and ran his hand over his face. Gilligan fanned himself with his own hat. Ginger anxiously picked at her fingernails. The Howells lamented the inevitable plummeting of the stock exchange if Wall Street were to blow up. Mary Ann simply began to cry – not out of fear, she said, but out of anger and sorrow that the world could ever be so cruel. **_

_**Gilligan walked toward the cave entrance, as if he thought he could see the arcline of the missiles set out to destroy civilization or could hear explosions in the distance. Instead, he accidentally tripped and knocked the radio into the bonfire we had set in the middle of the cave.**_

_**That's right. In one fell swoop, we lost all communication with the outside world. I knew it was inevitable, as we all depend on it for some reason or another, but we had hoped to keep it around a little longer. But despite our initial dismay at its demise, we realized that now it doesn't matter. The world is on fire around us, we are alone in the world. Truly alone. No more drop-ins, no more betrayals, no more invasions. We have survived a nuclear holocaust. We are the last bastion of civilization in a smoking husk of a planet.**_

_**By my reckoning, the missiles were due to hit the United States within minutes, which means everything we knew and loved and hoped to return to one day has been obliterated. I don't see much reason as to why we would need the boat, as exploration of our surroundings now seems futile.**_

_**I suppose the fortunate thing about our being stranded here is that we have everything we need on the island. It's large enough to sustain our seven-person family unit, and we have managed quite well since being marooned in 1964. It's hard to believe we have been here this long. It's strange how being away from the world for so long changes your perspective. Immediately, we went from lamenting our rotten luck for so long to being grateful for our lives and our living situation. For the first time since our shipwreck, we saw ourselves in the paradise we were meant to see.**_

_**It has been at least a fortnight since the announcement, and now we are adjusting the realities of our civilization possibly being the last on Earth. Those trivial matters that occupied us before have evaporated. The worries of propriety; the worries of reacclimating ourselves into society – it does not matter now. We have each other and for the time being, our health.**_

_**Mary Ann and I have been working on an experiment in food preservation, in the meantime. Her grandmother had taught her how to dehydrate food, so we crafted a dehydrator, which has stretched our supply quite well. **_

_**Although we are all one large family and I have come to view the rest as a surrogate family of sorts, Mary Ann is my closest friend. I admit, over the years my affection for her has grown. She is extremely interesting, and I might add, intelligent. I have written many times about my admiration of her beauty and inner strength in past entries, but she is my rock in many ways. I find myself unable to divorce my findings from hers. We work as one. Over the years, we have spent a lot of time cataloguing the flora and fauna of the island and working on ideas to make life more tolerable – her farm background has proven the most useful of all. She is not unused to hard labor, and we have spent a lot of time together in recent months. I find myself energized by her enthusiasm and willingness to help facilitate my research. **_

_**We may be all alone in this world, and we now know our fate is to live out the rest of our days on the island, but we are at last free to enjoy it.**_

-o0o-

"Professor?" Mary Ann appeared in the doorway of the Professor's hut with a bucket of mangoes. "I saw your light on. Can you please give me a hand? I want to finish this before tomorrow morning. Two hands would make it go much faster."

"Sure, dear," he replied, closing his diary. She plopped the bowl of mangoes down on the table while he went to get the dehydrator. When he returned, she handed him a paring knife, and the two went to work prepping food. "It's getting late. Aren't you tired?" he asked.

"I can't sleep. I keep having nightmares about the bomb. I feel guilty for not mourning as much as I should. I was devastated at first, but since nothing has changed here, it doesn't seem real."

"I know what you mean."

"Are you frightened?"

"Strangely, no. I am having a harder time accepting that all the research and hard work we have done in the last 5 years seems to be for a lost cause now. There will be no future generations to learn from it. It's depressing to think about."

"That has been on my mind too, Professor." She started weeping a little, and put down the paring knife. The Professor didn't know what to say to comfort her.

"There, there, dear," he said, gently putting his hand on her arm. "I wish there was something I could say or do to make this situation any better. We all need a happier distraction."

"Oh, it's silly," she said, trying to hide her sniffling. "And pointless, now. I once wanted to travel to London and France and Italy and meet loads of new people and really experience life. When my great-aunt Hilda died, she left me some inheritance money. I blew a third of it on a ticket to Hawaii, just to get away. You know, when I was a kid, I dreamt of living somewhere exotic, far away from Kansas."

The Professor handed her a cloth so she could blow her nose. She did so promptly. "How come you never married?" she asked.

"I was too busy," he replied, honestly. "I went on a few dates with colleagues over the years, but nothing worked out. Women have always found me…fairly boring. After the fifth or sixth prospective date telling you this, you're inclined to think it's true of yourself."

"I don't," Mary Ann said, very seriously. "Whoever finds you boring isn't interested in learning or discovering something. We have lots of fun together."

"That's probably why I never warmed up to Ginger," he said. "I'm aware of her affectionate feelings for me, but...well."

Mary Ann nodded. She had been well-aware of Ginger's near-constant, wanton advances on the Professor since they had been marooned. Part of the reason why Mary Ann hadn't gone to bed yet was that she couldn't stand another night of Ginger's wailing that no one was left in the world to see her films. There may have been a worldwide nuclear holocaust, but Ginger's ego remained as steadfast as ever.

"…She isn't like you," he continued. "But then again, most women aren't….weren't."

Mary Ann smiled and sliced a mango in half. They had worked out quite an assembly line: he peeled and pitted; she sliced and placed in the dehydrator. They had already processed fifteen mangoes, and the dehydrator was filling fast.

"What about you?" he asked. "Were you seeing anyone before?"

"Yes," she replied. "I had a steady boyfriend in high school. We dated for a year, and then he left me Graduation night."

"How awful!" the Professor said, suddenly intrigued. "What happened?"

She got quiet. "It was a very hard time for me, Professor, I can't believe I'm talking about it now. I spent a long time trying to forget what happened, and now it doesn't matter anymore."

He took her hand. "I'm sorry," he said, slightly puzzled as to why she would still be so devastated over something that happened a decade ago. She shifted in her seat.

"Mary Ann, you're the closest friend I have in the world. We know each other better than anyone else. We were literally IN each other's bodies," he added, remembering that strange mad scientist, "What secrets do we have left to unearth?"

"Plenty," she said, looking into his eyes. "Professor…"

The Professor got quiet. Suddenly he felt very warm.

"…If I tell you something about myself, that I've been ashamed of all these years, will you promise not to be disgusted with me or think less of me as a friend?"

Something in her tone made him melt. "Of course not, Mary Ann. You know I'm not a judgemental person." She nodded, knowing it was the truth. After all, she had once dressed him in drag.

"I lost my virginity to my boyfriend on senior prom night. It just sort of happened, the way those things do, you know," she said, reddening. "I didn't encourage it. He just sort of directed me into the whole thing and by the time we were…well, you know, it was too late to say no. I didn't enjoy it, I kept thinking, 'is this it? But I made a mistake thinking that was what I wanted."

"Oh, Mary Ann, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Those things happen. It doesn't make you a bad person. Teenagers get into all sorts of situations."

"Well, mine ended up an even worse one," she said, unable to look in his eyes. "I got pregnant."

"My dear girl," he replied, gasping in sympathy. "That must have been terribly frightening for you." The lack of judgment from him encouraged her to continue.

"I found out about it right before graduation. I was scared stiff, but I figured he would marry me and then everything would be settled. But he wasn't interested in being tied down for the rest of his life with me. He took off. I was so heartbroken I…I had a miscarriage nearly three months in. I think my body somehow knew." She put down her knife. "It feels good to finally admit it to someone. No one knew about the baby. I hadn't even told my parents or aunt and uncle. If I had, they would have disowned me."

"And that would have been a terrible mistake, dear." He put down the knife and put his hands over hers. She clasped them tightly.

"It's such a relief to hear that," she said, sniffling. "I kept that secret a long time, and you're the first person I ever told. I thought I'd forget in time, but now that everything has changed, it feels silly to worry."

"Since we're sharing secrets now, I have one as well," he confessed. "I've never told anyone this, either; it was my worst experience."

"Tell me," she said, squeezing his hand. "I'm listening."

He took a deep breath and told his story, trying to avoid eye contact.

"We had been friendly acquaintances for some time, or at least I thought we were. The University wanted me to work on a grant research project in the summer, and it seemed to be my ticket out of teaching high school. I liked the kids just fine, but I hated the daily grind of administration interfering with my work. I was invited to come visit my colleague's office one evening after the last lectureto discuss my research funding. Next thing I knew, she was leaning over me on the desk, trying to take off my shirt."

"That's terrible," Mary Ann said. "She tried seducing you?"

"There was no one else around. I was very angry and sat up as soon as I was processing what she was doing. When I tried standing up and told her I wasn't interested, she grabbed me…there…and tried kissing me. I was mortified and angry. These things aren't supposed to happen. I was afraid that if I hurt her, I could be arrested. I shoved her to the side and ran out of there. Needless to say, she proceeded to undermine all of my attempts to secure a position at the University. She told the Dean I made untoward advances, that she was frightened to work with me."

"Why did he believe her so readily?"

"The president of the University was her father. He came to my house and punched me repeatedly, threatening to take me to the police. I had no way of defending myself. I was humiliated by the whole deal – the seduction attempt, the disgrace, the newspaper headlines that would surely get me fired; the disappointment of losing out on my dream job. That night I packed everything I could and purchased a plane ticket to Hawaii. I wanted to get as far away from Cleveland as I could. Start a new life far away, where I could be happier, where I could have a second chance. When we were going to return to civilization, I had a job lined up for me at the University of Hawaii."

"Oh, Professor, I'm so sorry."

"But now they're all gone. And so are those fears, Mary Ann. I'm glad that I could tell someone the truth, finally. I was afraid that if someone found out about the incident, they would assume the worst of me," he said. "That's the funny thing."

Mary Ann took his hand up to her lips and kissed it gently. "It doesn't matter now, Professor. I know, and I still love you. And you know my secret, and you still love me. That's real friendship."

The heat of her lips on his hands awakened a desire in him that he had long ignored. Their eyes met.

"Funny word, 'love,' Mary Ann…there are so many kinds of it, but I feel all of them for you."

"Oh, Roy," she exclaimed. "I love you. It feels so good to say it, finally, but I really do."

"You called me by my name," he replied. "I haven't heard it in so long. Say it again."

"I love you, Roy Hinkley."

He leaned in and kissed her for the first time. She kissed him back, tentatively at first, but then when they both got comfortable, she got a little braver and they deepened the kiss.

"I love you," he said. "As my friend. As a woman. I've never felt these feelings for anyone before. I've been so afraid of them."

"I've been afraid, too," she said. "But I'm not, with you."

"I'm not afraid with you, either, sweetheart."

She put her hands on his chest and ran her thumbs over his heart, which was currently pounding so hard it rang in his ears. "I don't want to do anything that might upset you," she said. "I understand if this makes you uncomfortable."

"The difference is, I want this this time," he admitted. "For maybe the first time in my life. I want to love you."

"It's what I want, too," she said. "…May I stay with you tonight?"

"I'd like that," he said, kissing her tenderly. "Very much so."


	2. Chapter 2

They clung to each other in fierce passion, savouring the sensations coursing through their bodies. _Like dormant volcanoes_, he thought, blushing. The trauma of the past; of their eternal isolation, would finally begin to subside that night with every caress, kiss and sound of passion brought forth by their insatiable curiosity in each other.

Research had never been this interesting, he thought, as she writhed under his touch in ecstasy. At last, he understood what all the fuss had been about. Nothing equaled this delight, not even his discovery of a rare caterpillar on the north side of the island. The delight of belonging to each other. His body began to take over his racing mind, and suddenly there were no thoughts except to feel everything more immediately, more intensely, with each other. No words other than "please," "yes," and each other's names gasped in joy.

And when they had exhausted themselves, he held her tightly, her hair tickling his chest.

"I want this with you, forever," she said, running her fingers over his jaw.

"I want this, too."

"Let's consider this our wedding night, Roy." she cooed in his ear. "We don't need official papers anymore. We only need each other."

"I have the loveliest wife in the world," he replied.

"And I have the sweetest husband."

They lay together, idly stroking each other's arms until they fell asleep.

-o0o-

That afternoon, Mary Ann started packing her belongings. Ginger came into the hut and found her in the middle of folding her laundry and placing it in the trunk.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh, I married the Professor last night," Mary Ann replied.

"You WHAT?" Ginger asked, genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, well, we decided we wanted to."

Ginger sat down on her bed, fanning herself. "You mean you just slept together and you just call yourselves married now? You didn't have a ceremony or anything?"

"We consider that marriage enough. Really, Ginger, what IS the point of formalities anymore?"

Ginger smiled. "Well, I had been saying that all along in Hollywood, but people called me a whore. Including you," she teased. "But since it's just us now, I see your point. We all have an understanding of each other. I'm happy for you."

"Thank you, Ginger. That means a lot. I don't know how the others will take the news, but it is what it is."

-o0o-

At dinner that night, the Professor and Mary Ann rose to make the announcement.

"We would like to tell everyone who hasn't suspected already that Mary Ann and I…are…together."

Everyone clapped enthusiastically, congratulating them heartily, except for Mrs Howell. "Together, how, may I ask?" she inquired, looking at them suspiciously over her lorgnette.

"We wish to live as husband and wife," Mary Ann replied. It wasn't untrue.

"Oh, how marvelous," Mrs Howell replied, not getting the implication. "What a lovely distraction from all the beastliness of the past month. An engagement! Oh, Thurston, there's to be a wedding on our island after all! I'll get the invitations ready."

"There's no need, Mrs Howell. Don't waste your paper," the Professor replied. "We don't see the need for a ceremony. We love each other and Mary Ann and I consider ourselves married already."

Mrs Howell promptly fainted. Thurston Howell caught her, then looked at the Professor and Mary Ann with a fierce scowl.

'How dare you talk that way in front of my wife! What are you, a pair of bohemian beatniks? I'm shocked by your debauchery. SHOCKED."

"Mr Howell, there are seven of us left on the earth, and two of us wanted to be with each other. What would be the point of a legal ceremony?"

Mr Howell carried his wife back to her hut. "Denial, my boy, denial. I don't think we should abandon propriety in its entirety. Marry her, you will. We will have a ceremony when she revives. The Skipper will officiate. The rest of us will be witnesses before God and…the ghost of Rockefeller. Who knows? Just do it the right way, for god's sake. PRETEND. If this happens, no telling how much our society will devolve."

Trivial though it was, Mr Howell had a point. The others discussed the situation and decided that they would agree to legally recognize their marriage after a quick ceremony. All future marriages, they declared, would be juried in the same manner by the surviving members.

The ceremony took place by the beach where they had washed ashore. Mary Ann carried a bouquet of flowers she had picked along the short walk to the shore. The Professor gave her his class ring, which didn't fit anyway, and with a quick kiss, Roy and Mary Ann Hinkley were officially declared husband and wife by the Skipper.

Things were changing fast.

-o0o-

The others decided to make and furnish a hut for the Hinkleys as a wedding present. The Professor's old hut would continue to serve as his laboratory, and Ginger relished the idea of a place to herself. The Hinkleys had plenty of privacy in their new home. Mary Ann decorated it with flowers and their mounted butterfly collection. They were elated to be with each other, really, truly now.

The research experiments they conducted on each other came to interesting conclusions as their honeymoon commenced. Mary Ann liked certain things, and the Professor found new delights each time in his own body. Having been in each other's bodies that short time helped this understanding, oddly enough. In another world, that would have been considered kinky, but they only wanted to make each other happy.

Other than that, life on the island continued as normal, until the announcement was made one day that the Skipper and Ginger wished to get married. No one objected to this proposition, so they had another ceremony and Skipper moved into her hut.

"How did it happen?" Mary Ann asked later.

"I was scared of a weird noise," Ginger said, "So I asked the Skipper to come over and he ended up staying the night. So now we're married."

"Are you happy?"

"For now, yes," Ginger said, "But I'll probably marry Gilligan after a while." It was very common in Hollywood for actresses to be married a few times. Why break tradition?"

"Seems legitimate to me," Mary Ann replied. "I'll stick with my current husband, though."

"That's fine," Ginger shrugged. "To each his own."

-o0o-

Mary Ann woke with a start one morning a few months later. A wave of nausea hit her, and she ran outside puking. The Professor, already awake, heard her retching and rushed outside, afraid she might be coming down with a virus.

"No, Roy," she said, wiping her mouth. "This has happened to me before, but not so happily. If this is what I think it is, I think we're going to soon be eight."

"You mean…?"

"I think so."

"Oh sweetheart," he cried, pulling her into his arms. "This is wonderful. A little baby of our own. I don't know what kind of world we're bringing them into, but we'll do our best, won't we?"

"I don't know for certain yet, dear. Oh but we've been relatively happy here all these years. We can't give our children everything, but we'll do our best with what we have."

-o0o-

It turned out that Mary Ann was right. By their calculations, they would have a child in a few months, when winter would set in. They made their announcement at dinner.

"Oh, a little Hinkley!" the Skipper shouted with joy, hugging the expectant parents. "I am so happy for you two."

-o0o-

Mary Ann's pregnancy went remarkably well, considering their situation. By the eighth month, however, the normally-tiny woman was gigantic, and her mobility limited. The others had picked up the slack.

Thurston and Lovey Howell were out in the jungle picking berries. The weather was warm and muggy, and after some time, Mrs Howell began to feel some strain in her chest. Sweat poured off her brow as she felt everything within her constrict A few minutes later, a sharp pain went up her arm and she collapsed in the thicket. Thurston ran to her side, holding her in his lap. The last thing she saw in her earthly life was her dear husband.

"It's so bright," she whispered hoarsely, her eyes closing. "They're coming to see me. Oh, it's wonderful, Thurston." She smiled, and suddenly her face changed to a deathly pale.

"Lovey! Dear!" he cried in anguish, as his wife's head slumped in his lap. "Oh god, Lovey!" he cried. Gilligan heard his shouts and ran over to see what had happened. By the time he got there, Mrs Thurston Howell III had died of a massive heart attack.

The others were extremely saddened by her sudden death. She had to be buried right away, so the men built her a bamboo coffin and interred her on the hill she loved so dearly, with a grand tombstone decorated with mother of pearl. Gilligan and the Skipper gave loving eulogies. Her belongings were then divided between the women. Ginger got the fur coats and perfumes; Mary Ann got her jewelry and daily wear.

Thurston Howell went on a severe alcohol bender in the following weeks. Gilligan helped him get through it by taking him on walks, and telling him amusing stories. Despite his well meaning, this approach proved disastrous. No one had any solutions. The Skipper suggested to Ginger one night that he would be willing to go along with an arrangement to share her with Mr Howell, if it meant bringing him out of his funk.

Mr Howell made a miraculous recovery. It was amazing what the revival of his libido accomplished. Although the others suspected the arrangement, no one seemed to object outwardly.

One day, Mary Ann found herself in labor with her child. She called for the Professor, who had been preparing himself and the others for this moment, in case something were to happen. Thank god he had the foresight long ago to bring a medical book along with him to Hawaii.

After a long and painful labor, the Professor and Ginger successfully delivered a healthy baby girl. Mary Ann kept groaning, and he worried that she was in danger, but Ginger squealed happily.

"Oh, Professor! Professor! There's another one! It's twins!"

Sure enough, five minutes later, they delivered another healthy baby – a boy this time. They kept watch over mother and children to make sure everything was okay. But they had nothing to worry about. The Hinkleys were a family now. The world may have collapsed, but after a long winter, spring had arrived on the island and in everyone's hearts. There were two new tiny people to love.

-o0o-

"Mrs Howell would have been so happy," Mary Ann said a few nights later, after recovering from the delivery. "I wish she had lived to see them. She would have made a lovely grandmother."

They had named their children after their parents: Paul David and Elizabeth Ann Hinkley. Nothing fancy or pretentious, just solid, classic names, to remind them somehow that something still remained of civilization. Raising infants on a tropical island proved to be an interesting endeavor, but luckily their father had quite an expertise on the tribal practices of native islanders, and he had been lucky to draw from their wisdom in these matters. The rest was improvised. Mary Ann recovered and life went on as usual.

Ginger announced a pregnancy next, although there had been some initial confusion as to the father's identity. Finally, the council determined that it didn't matter, and whoever's child it was would be welcomed into the family as usual.

The logistics and nonchalance of these matters would have shocked everyone back home, but the new reality was working, interestingly enough. The Professor thought about it a few times here and there – making anthropological parallels to once-primitive societies – but those thoughts drifted away when he was called into action for some thing or another. Theirs was a strange but peaceful society, a legacy he would he proud to leave his children.


End file.
